Re:Death of an open-source business model
by chii on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @07:38PM
(#25367838)
> restaurant chain offers a better product
so the end consumer benefits. I think that's an acceptable outcome tbh.
> unless [the small restaurant] starts making new recipes it keeps for itself.
which is why it doesn't make sense to give away the recipes in the first place. If restaurant's value proposition is _merely_ the recipe, and you give it away, but expect customers to be charitable and still give you money, then the business is a failing one (even if temporarily solvent).
But if your small restaurant has qualities that can't be replicated in a chain, then you have a business model (even if temporarily insolvent - you just have to hang on and not bankrupt...), and you can "afford" to give away the recipe and chalk it up to marketing expense.
This is why there's barely any real businesses selling open source games - there's hardly any differentiator there. But for enterprise/productivity applications, i think there may be - for example, professional services associated with the product, or customizations etc.
so the end consumer benefits. I think that's an acceptable outcome tbh.
> unless [the small restaurant] starts making new recipes it keeps for itself.
which is why it doesn't make sense to give away the recipes in the first place. If restaurant's value proposition is _merely_ the recipe, and you give it away, but expect customers to be charitable and still give you money, then the business is a failing one (even if temporarily solvent).
But if your small restaurant has qualities that can't be replicated in a chain, then you have a business model (even if temporarily insolvent - you just have to hang on and not bankrupt...), and you can "afford" to give away the recipe and chalk it up to marketing expense.
This is why there's barely any real businesses selling open source games - there's hardly any differentiator there. But for enterprise/productivity applications, i think there may be - for example, professional services associated with the product, or customizations etc.